SH 365 
.R4 A5 
1912 
Copy 1 







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LAWS 



RELATING TO 



Shell Fisheries, 

1912. 




PROVIDENCE : 

E. L. Freeman Compant, State Printers. 

1912. 



§tai^ of iUjoto Jlalattb* 



LAWS 



RELATING TO 



Shell Fisheries, 

1912. 




PROVIDENCE: 

E. L. Freeman Company, State Printers. 
1912. 



COMMISSIONERS OF SHELL FISHERIES. 



MAY 2 016 ^ 



Philip H. Wilbour Little Compton, R. I. 

John H. Northup Apponaug, R. I. 

Edward Atchison Slatersville, R. I. 

Samuel F. Bowden Barrington, R. I. 

John G. Wilcox Westerly, R. I., R. F. D. No. 1. 

Clerk. 

Brayton A. Round Providence, R. I. 

Engineer. 

O. Perry Sarle Providence, R. I. 

Deputy Commissioners of Shell Fisheries. 

Charles I. Northup Apponaug, R. I. 

Oliver G. Hicks Bristol Ferry, R. I. 

Leman Wardsworth Wickford, R. I. 

William B. Welden Providence, R. I. 

Jessie L. Bowden .Warren, R. I. 

Israel A. Smith Pawtuxet, R. I. 

Biologist and Bacteriologist. 

Frederic P. Gorham 

Brown University, Providence, R. I, 

Inspector of Oyster Houses. 

Lester A. Round Providence, R. I. 

Inspector of Stakes and Buoys. 

Walter G. Massie, Providence, R. I. 

D. -of D. 
SEP' 13 1916 



LAWS 



RELATING TO 



SHELL FISHERIES 



CHAPTER 203. 

OF PRIVATE AND SEVERAL OYSTER FISHER- 
IES. 

Section 1. There shall be elected by the 
general assembly, in grand committee, five 
commissioners of shell fisheries, one from each 
county, who shall hold office for the term of five 
years. The general assembly, in grand com- 
mittee, at the January session in the year 
nineteen hundred ten, and in each fifth year 
thereafter, shall elect five members of said 
board, and the members so elected shall hold 
their offices until the first day of February in 
the fifth year after their appointment. Any 
vacancy that may occur in said offices while the 
general assembly is not in session may be filled 
by the governor until such time as some person 
elected by the general assembly, in grand com- 



4 LAWS RELATING TO SHELL FISHERIES. 

mittee, to fill such vacancy, shall be qualified to 
act. Any person elected by the general assem- 
bly to fill such vacancy shall hold office for the 
unexpired term of the person whose place he is 
elected to fill. They shall have power and 
authority to elect a clerk and prescribe his 
duties. 

Sec. 2. The said commissioners, previous 
to entering upon the duties of their office, shall 
severally give a bond, with sureties satisfactory 
to the general treasurer, in the sum of one 
thousand dollars, with condition to faithfully 
perform the duties of the office according to 
law. 

Sec. 3. The clerk of the commissioners of 
shell fisheries is hereby required to give a bond 
in such sum and with such surety or sureties as 
will be satisfactory to the general treasurer, 
with condition faithfully to perform the duties 
of the office according to law; the expense of 
procuring said board shall be defrayed by the 
state. 

Sec. 4. The said commissioners shall make 
annual report to the general assembly at its 
January session of their doings and the con- 
dition of this department of the public service, 
including a detailed statement of all moneys 



LAWS RELATING TO SHELL FISHERIES. 5 

received and expended on account thereof; and 
also including the names of all of the lessees of 
said land, the number of acres leased each per- 
son, and the value thereof. 

Sec. 5. The said commissioners shall have 
an office in the state house in the city of Provi- 
dence, where the maps, charts, books, leases, 
and other property connected with said com- 
mission shall be kept. 

Sec. 6. Each of said commissioners shall, 
by virtue of his office, make complaints for any 
violation of the laws of this state relating to 
shell fisheries, and of any subsequent amend- 
ments thereof, without giving recognizance or 
surety for costs 

Sec. 7. The said commissioners may ap- 
point such deputies as they shall deem neces- 
sary for the detection and prosecution of any 
violation of the laws of this state relating to 
shell fisheries. Each of said deputies so ap- 
pointed shall be by virtue of his office, a 
special constable, and as such deputy may 
without warrant arrest any person found 
violating any of said laws and detain him for 
prosecution not exceeding forty-eight hours, 
and may seize any boat or vessel used in such 
violation,, together with her tackle, apparel 



b LAWS RELATING TO SHELL FISHERIES. 

and furniture, and all implements belonging 
thereto. 

The said commissioners may also appoint 
such oyster guards as they may deem advisable 
for the detection and prosecution of any person 
committing depredations upon leased oyster 
ground. Each of said oyster guards shall be, 
by virtue of his office, a special constable, and 
as such oyster guard may without warrant 
arrest any person whom he may find taking 
oysters wrongfully from leased oyster ground 
and detain him for prosecution not exceeding 
forty-eight hours, and may seize any boat or 
vessel used in such wrongful taking of oysters, 
together with her tackle, apparel and furniture 
and all implements belonging thereto. 

Said commissioners shall make all necessary 
regulations for enforcing the laws of the state 
relating to shell fisheries, and for executing the 
duties imposed upon them by law. The annual 
expense of enforcing said laws shall be paid by 
the general treasurer out of the moneys re- 
ceived for rentals of oyster grounds, on orders 
of the state auditor, who shall draw his orders 
on the general treasurer on properly presented 
vouchers approved by said commissioners. 
The said commissioners may expend in any 



LAWS RELATING TO SHELL FISHERIES. 7 

one year a sum not to exceed twelve thousand 
dollars in executing all the duties imposed 
upon them by law. The sum of twelve thou- 
sand dollars shall include all appropriations 
made for the use of the said commissioners 
under whatever provision of law, with the 
exception of such acts and resolutions as provide 
for the salaries of the commissioners of shell 
fisheries and their clerk and for such other 
clerical assistance as may be necessary: Pro- 
vided, however, that the said commissioners 
shall not receive any compensation for any ser- 
vice rendered in executing said duties, in 
addition to the salary provided by law." 

For the purpose of carrying into effect the 
provisions of this act the sum of ten thousand 
five hundred dollars be and the same is hereby 
appropriated out of any money in the treasury 
not otherwise appropriated; and the state 
auditor is hereby directed to draw his orders 
upon the general treasurer for the payment of 
said sum or such portion thereof as may from 
time to time be required, upon receipt by him 
of proper vouchers approved by said commis- 
sioners. 

Sec. 8. Said commissioners may, unless 
otherwise by statute prohibited, agree to lease 



8 LAWS RELATING TO SHELL FISHERIES. 

in the name of the state, by public auction or 
otherwise, to any suitable person, being an 
inhabitant of this state, or any corporation 
chartered under the laws of this state, for the 
purpose of oyster culture and the oyster busi- 
ness: — Provided , that said corporation shall 
have its principal place of business within this 
state for the opening, shipping, and selling of 
all oysters grown on ground leased to it within 
this state; and provided, further, that said 
corporation shall not ship out of this state any 
oysters in cargo lots direct from any of the 
oyster grounds leased to it; and provided, 
further, that, if at any time hereafter said 
corporation shall practiclly cease to carry on 
actively the business aforesaid, then and there- 
upon, said commissioners may cancel said lease 
or leases to said corporation — any piece of land 
within the state, covered by four feet of tide 
water at mean low tide, as delineated upon the 
plats in the office of the commissioners of shell 
fisheries, and not within any harbor line: 
Provided, that in Brightman's pond or Bab- 
cock's pond, so-called, in the town of Westerly, 
said commissioners may agree to lease any 
piece of land therein, below mean low-water 
mark, whether the same is covered by four 



LAWS RELATING TO SHELL FISHERIES. 9 

feet of tide water or not, to be used as a private 
and several oyster fishery for the planting and 
cultivation of oysters thereon, upon such terms 
and conditions as they may deem proper, but 
not for a longer term than ten years or for a 
shorter term than five years, nor for a rent of 
less than ten dollars per annum for every acre 
to be leased where the water is of the depth of 
less than twelve feet at mean low water, as 
shown on the plats in the office of the commis- 
sioners of shell fisheries, and not agreeing to 
lease more than one acre at a time in one lot or 
parcel to one person, firm, or corporation; but 
in drawing such leases said commissioners may 
include in the instrument of lease one or more 
acres of land so leased by them, and all such 
leases shall be made and executed free of 
expense to the lessee: Provided, however, that 
any lessee or holder of oyster ground, on the 
expiration of any lease thereof which is now or 
which may hereafter be granted, shall upon 
application to the commissioners of shell 
fisheries have the preference in the re-letting of 
said ground for a like term to that granted in 
the original lease, unless said applicant at the 
time for granting said application shall be in 
arrear for rent on said original lease of said 



10 LAWS RELATING TO SHELL FISHERIES. 

ground; and said application for such renewal 
or further lease shall be granted without notice 
or advertisement of the pendency thereof: 
Provided, however, that no renewal or further 
lease of said ground shall be granted when the 
commissioners of shell fisheries shall for cause 
cease to lease said ground for oyster culture. 
And such letting shall not be subject to the 
provision for letting by public auction; and 
neither of such commissioners shall at any time 
be interested in any lease of ground for planting 
oysters, or in the cultivation or product thereof: 
Provided, however, that in Little Narragansett 
Bay, and in Pawcatuck river, so-called, the 
said commissioners may let such land on terms 
as to time and rentals as may seem to them 
best. 

Sec. 9. The said commissioners may let 
and lease any lands within the state covered by 
tide-water where the said water is of the depth 
of at least twelve feet according to the plats 
in the office of the commissioners of shell 
fisheries at the average low water, for the pur- 
pose of having the said land used in planting 
and cultivating oysters in the deep waters of 
Narragansett Bay and tributaries, at an annual 
rental of not less than five dollars per acre, for a 



LAWS RELATING TO SHELL FISHERIES. 11 

term not exceeding ten years from such letting. 

Sec. 10. Any person who shall wrongfully 
make claim to any public oyster ground, of 
which he has no lease or title from the state, by 
erecting bounds or monuments thereon of any 
description, or otherwise claiming title to such 
land, shall for the first offence pay a fine of 
twenty dollars and costs, and for every sub- 
sequent offence pay a fine of fifty dollars and 
costs, one-half thereof to the use of the state 
and the other half to the complainant 

Sec. 11. The said commissioners shall cause 
the original surveying and platting of all lands 
for planting and cultivating oysters under 
provisions of this chapter to be done at the 
expense of the state and without charge to the 
lessees; and the state auditor shall draw his 
order for the payment of said surveys and plat- 
ting upon the general treasurer, upon properly 
presented vouchers approved by said commis- 
sioners, and the general treasurer shall pay said 
orders out of any moneys that may be in his 
hands not otherwise appropriated. 

Sec. 12. The said commissioners may at 
the request of the lessee, for cause shown, cancel 
or modify any lease, or they may remit or 
abate the rent received therein, if it shall 



12 LAWS RELATING TO SHELL FISHERIES. 

appear to the satisfaction of the commis- 
sioners, that it would be equitable so to do: 
Provided, that in all cases where leases are 
cancelled, the commissioners shall give notice 
of such action within five days by publication, 
twice a week for two successive weeks, in some 
daily newspaper published in the city of 
Providence. 

Sec. 13. The said commissioners shall not 
let any land north of a line extended across 
Providence river bearing S 40°-30 / W, true 
meridan, from the copper bolt set in the rock 
near the end of Kettle Point, to Field's Point, 
or let any lands west of a line drawn from 
Warwick Neck Light bearing S 55°-16'-02" W, 
true meridan, to Pojack Point at Potowomut 
Neck; or let any lards in Sakonnet River south 
of the railroad bridge; or let any lands in shore 
of the four-foot line, as delineated on the plats 
in said commissioners' office, or any land lying 
between a line running due east and west 
through the middle point of the Rhode Island 
Yacht Club building, northerly of Pawtuxet 
Neck, and a line running due east and west 
through the center of Pomham beacon, and 
west of the channel; or let the channel between 
Long Neck and Marsh Island flats from the 



LAWS RELATING TO SHELL FISHERIES. 13 

channel in the Providence river to the bridge in 
Pawtuxet; or let any of the ponds in Little 
Compton, South Kingstown, New Shoreham, 
Tiverton, Portsmouth or Westerly, or the cove, 
so-called, in the town of Portsmouth, except 
Brightman's pond or Babcock's pond, so- 
called, in said Westerly: Provided, however, 
that said commissioners shall not let more than 
three acres in said Brightman's or Babcock's 
pond to any one person; and provided, further, 
that every person to whom any of the lands in 
said Brightman's or Babcock's pond shall be 
let under the provisions of this chapter shall 
have had his home and residence in this state 
for a period of three years next preceding the 
letting thereof; and provided, further, that 
nothing in this section shall be so construed as 
to affect any of the lands which have been 
leased or the re-leasing thereof. 

Sec. 14. The said commissioners shall give 
notice of every application for a lease of land 
for the planting of oysters by publication twice 
a week for two successive weeks in some daily 
newspaper published in the city of Providence, 
and also once a week for two successive weeks 
in some newpaper published in the county 
nearest to which the ground is located, describ- 



14 LAWS RELATING TO SHELL FISHERIES. 

ing the land therein applied for and giving the 
name and residence of the applicant and the 
day, hour, and place where the land will be let; 
which day shall in all cases where the first 
hearing upon such an application is to be had be 
upon the first or third Friday of the month, 
and the commissioners may give such further 
notice of such application as they may deem to 
be necessary to inform persons interested of the 
pendency of such application, and the actual 
costs of publishing said notices shall be paid 
by the applicants. 

Sec. 15. Said commissioners may adjourn 
such hearing from time to time, and may issue 
process to compel the attendance of witnesses 
for either party, and shall give notice to all 
parties who have appeared before them upon 
any application of the time and place when their 
decision will be given; and such decision shall 
be final, unless appellate proceedings are taken 
and prosecuted as hereinafter provided. 

Sec. 16. Any person aggrieved by the 
decision of the commissioners upon any applica- 
tion for a private or several oyster-ground or 
oyster-fishery may petition the supreme court 
for a reversal or modification of such decision. 



LAWS RELATING TO SHELL FISHERIES. 15 

Sec. 17. Application for citation in such 
case shall be made to the clerk of said common 
pleas division within five days from the day 
such decision shall have been made, and the 
petitioner shall, at or before the time for filing 
his petition, file with said clerk a copy of the 
proceedings before the commissioners, and a 
bond, signed by him or by some one in his 
behalf, with sufficient surety, in the sum of 
fifty dollars, payable to said clerk for the use of 
the state, with condition to prosecute such 
petition to final judgment and to pay such 
witness fees and the costs of summons incurred 
by any party opposing such petition as the 
court shall award, in case the decision of the 
commissioners shall not be reversed. 

Sec. 18. Such case shall be heard and tried 
in the same manner as other cases entered upon 
the docket of said court, and the judgment of 
the court (which shall be entered immediately 
upon the rendition of decision or verdict) shall 
be conclusive upon the question whether said 
land shall or shall not be leased, and the com- 
missioners shall grant or refuse a lease accord- 
ingly. 

Sec. 19. Such leases shall be executed by 
such lessee, as well as by said commissioners 



16 LAWS RELATING TO SHELL FISHERIES. 

in two parts, one part thereof to be delivered to 
such lessee and the other part thereof to be 
retained by said commissioners and recorded 
in a book kept for that purpose, and shall 
contain proper covenants for the payment of 
rent and the performance of the conditions 
and observance of the restrictions therein set 
forth, with proper clauses reserving to said 
commissioners a right to re-enter on behalf 
of the state and terminate said lease for breach 
of any of such covenants. 

Sec. 20. Said commissioners shall, before 
granting any such lease, cause the land to be 
leased as aforesaid, to be surveyed and platted, 
and shall in all cases cause such land to be 
marked with proper bounds, stakes or buoys to 
define the limits thereof, with such marks 
thereon as they may direct. Such bounds, 
stakes or buoys, with the marks thereon, shall 
be renewed or removed whenever the commis- 
sioners shall direct. 

All buoys used in connection with bounding 
or subdividing shell fish grounds or for any 
purpose whatsoever in connection with the 
enjoyment of the rights and privileges granted 
by the leasing of shell fish grounds, shall be 



LAWS RELATING TO SHELL FISHERIES. 17 

under the supervision and care of the said 
commissioners. 

Said commissioners may designate the kind 
and style of stake or buoy which shall be used 
for the purpose of marking shell fish grounds 
and make any suitable regulations in reference 
to the same: Provided, however, that driven 
stakes shall not be used as bounds or other 
marks on such shell fish grounds, except on 
the inside or shoreward boundaries of said 
grounds, and in no case in more than six feet 
of water at mean low tide. 

Said commissioners are hereby empowered 
to investigate all complaints brought to their 
notice and in their discretion to remove or 
cause to be removed any stake or buoy located 
on any leased shell fish ground and used for 
the purpose of bounding, subdividing or other- 
wise marking said ground, which in their 
judgment, is in an improper position or con- 
dition or does not conform to any regulation 
which they may make. 

Also, said commissioners may in their 
discretion remove or cause to be removed all 
such stakes or buoys which may be on shell 
fish ground where the lease of the same has 
terminated. 



18 LAWS RELATING TO SHELL FISHERIES. 

Also, said commissioners may remove or 
cause to be removed any stake or buoy used 
for the purpose of marking or bounding shell 
fish beds which may be improperly located on 
land not leased. 

In case the commissioners remove or cause to 
be removed any stake or buoy from leased 
ground, the cost of removal shall be collected 
from the lessee. Such cost shall become a 
charge against said lessee and subject to collec- 
tion in the same manner as is the yearly rent 
under the lease for said ground. 

Any person willfully violating the require- 
ments, orders or regulations respecting bounds, 
stakes or buoys as determined by said com- 
missioners shall for the first offence be fined 
not more than twenty dollars and for each 
subsequent offence shall be fined not more 
than one hundred dollars. 

Sec. 21. The drawing and executing of 
such leases, the original surveying and platting, 
shall be done by said commissioners without 
expense to the lessees. The setting up of the 
bounds, stakes, or buoys shall in all cases be 
done by the lessee under the direction of the 
commissioners. 



LAWS RELATING TO SHELL FISHERIES. 19 

Sec. 22. Every person who shall willfully 
injure, deface, destroy, or remove such marks 
or bounds, or deface any mark thereon, or shall 
tie or fasten any boat or vessel to any such 
stake or buoy, shall be fined twenty dollars 
for each offence, one-half thereof to the use of 
the state and one-half thereof to the use of the 
complainant. Every such person shall, in 
addition thereto, be liable in an action of the 
case to pay double damages and costs to the 
person who shall be injured by having the 
marks and bounds, stakes, or buoys of their 
said lots injured, defaced, removed, or de- 
stroyed as aforesaid. 

Sec. 23. The oysters planted or growing 
in any private oyster ground leased as afore- 
said shall, during the continuance of the lease, 
be the personal property of the lessee of such 
oyster-ground. As a measure of value and in 
lieu of other taxation upon such personal 
property an annual tax equal to ten per centum 
of the rental payable by the lessees of all such 
oyster ground leased by said commissioners of 
shell fisheries is hereby imposed upon the lessees 
thereof respectively of record on the thirty- 
first day of December next preceding the pay- 
ment of such tax. The commissioners of shell 



20 LAWS RELATING TO SHELL FISHERIES. 

fisheries shall annually on or before the first 
day of March return to the board of tax com- 
missioners a list, certified by such commissioner 
of shell fisheries, showing the names and 
residences of such lessees, the acreage leased 
and the rentals payable respectively. The 
board of tax commissioners, on the first business 
day of June in each year, shall assess such tax 
and enter the amount thereof against the name 
of each lessee. Said board shall certify to the 
correctness of such assessment and deliver a 
duly attested copy thereof, as a public record, 
to the general treasurer, who shall receive and 
collect the taxes so assessed, and said board 
shall also forthwith mail a notice of the amount 
of the tax to each such lessee, but the failure 
to receive such notice shall not excuse the non- 
payment of said tax. Any tax assessed against 
any lessee which shall remain unpaid after the 
fifteenth day of July next succeeding such 
assessment shall bear interest from the first 
day of such July at the rate of eight per centum 
per annum until paid. The general treasurer 
shall forthwith after the fifteenth day of such 
July certify to the commissioners of shell 
fisheries a list of the lessees whose taxes have 
not been paid, together with the amount of the 



LAWS RELATING TO SHELL FISHERIES. 21 

tax assessed against each, and the commis- 
sioners of shell fisheries ma} proceed to enforce 
the collection of any tax assessed under this 
section, with accrued interest in like manner 
as provided in section twenty-six of this chapter 
for the collection of rents. 

Sec. 24. Every person who shall work a 
dredge, pair of oyster tongs or rakes, or any 
other implement for the taking of shellfish of 
any description, upon any private and several 
oyster ground or bed without the consent of 
the lessee or owner thereof, or who shall, 
while upon or sailing over any such ground or 
bed, cast, haul, or have overboard any such 
dredge, tongs, rake, or other implement for the 
taking of shellfish of any description, under any 
pretense or for any purpose whatever, without 
the consent of such lessee or owner, shall for 
the first offence be fined not exceeding twenty 
dollars or be imprisoned not exceeding thirty 
days, and for every subsequent offence shall be 
fined not exceeding one hundred dollars or be 
imprisoned not exceeding six months. 

Sec. 25. Said commissioners shall from 
time to time diligently inspect and ascertain 
whether or not the terms and restrictions of the 
leases are kept and performed in a just and 



22 LAWS RELATING TO SHELL FISHERIES. 

proper manner, and whether or not the rents 
are punctually paid; and in case said terms and 
restrictions are not kept and performed, or 
said rents are not punctually paid, the com- 
missioners shall forthwith enter upon the land 
so leased and terminate the lease. 

Sec. 26. The commissioners may, in the 
name of the state, institute any legal proceed- 
ings that may be necessary for the collection of 
such rent. The commissioners may take pos- 
session of any lot lease, upon which the rent 
shall not have been paid, and may dispose of 
said lot with all the oysters thereon at public 
auction to the highest bidder, first giving notice 
of the time and place of sale by publishing the 
same at least once each week for two successive 
weeks in some newspaper published in the city 
of Providence, with power to adjourn such sale 
from time to time, giving like notice of such 
adjournment; to make and execute to the pur- 
chaser at such sale a good and sufficient con- 
veyance of all the right, title, and interest of 
said lessee in and to the lot leased, together 
with the oysters thereon; and to receive the 
proceeds of such sale, and from said proceeds 
to retain all sums due and owing the state for 
rent as aforesaid, together with all expenses 



LAWS RELATING TO SHELL FISHERIES. 23 

incident to such sale, rendering and paying the 
surplus of said proceeds of sale, if any there be 
over and above the amounts so to be retained 
as aforesaid, to said lessee, his heirs, executors 
administrators, or assigns. 

Sec. 27. Every person who shall take 
oysters from any private and several oyster 
bed, except between the hours of sunrise and 
sunset, shall be fined twenty dollars for each 
offence, one-half thereof to the use of the state 
and one-half thereof to the use of the complain- 
ant; and every boat or vessel used or in any 
way employed in so doing shall, together with 
its tackle, apparel, furniture, and implements 
on board, be forfeited. 

Sec. 28. Every person who shall wrongfully 
take and carry away oysters from a private 
oyster bed shall for the first offence be fined 
fifty dollars and be imprisoned for thirty days, 
and for every subsequent offence shall be fined 
one hundred dollars and be imprisoned for 
six months. 

Sec. 29. Any police constable may in view 
of the commission of any offence against the 
provisions of this chapter upon any of the public 
waters of the state arrest the offender without 



24 LAWS RELATING TO SHELL FISHERIES. 

warrant and detain him for prosecution not 
exceeding twenty-four hours. 

Sec. 30. Every person who shall wilfully 
break up, damage, or injure any bed of oysters, 
or any tract of land leased from the state for 
an oyster bed, by depositing thereon earth, 
stones, or dredgings or scoopings from the river 
or docks, or in any other manner, shall be fined 
not exceeding five hundred dollars, one-half 
thereof to the use of the state and one-half 
thereof to the use of the complainant; and shall 
forfeit his boat or vessel, with her tackle, ap- 
parel and furniture, and all the implements by 
him used in injuring such oyster bed. 

Sec. 31. Every person convicted a second 
time of a violation of any of the provisions of 
this act shall, in addition to the penalties 
herein before mentioned, be deprived of the 
privilege of fishing for oysters in the waters of 
the state for the space of three years thereafter, 
under penalty of thirty days imprisonment for 
each offence. 

Sec. 32. Every person who shall take more 
than two bushels of oysters during any one 
day from Trustan pond, in South Kingstown, 
shall be fined not less than five dollars nor more 



LAWS RELATING TO SHELL FISHERIES. 25 

than twenty dollars for every bushel so taken 
above two bushels. 

Sec. 33. Each of said commissioners shall 
be by virtue of his office a special constable, 
and, as such commissioner, may arrest any 
person found violating any of the provisions of 
this act, and may seize any boat or vessel, with 
her tackle, apparel, and furniture, and all 
implements belonging thereto, when employed 
in taking oysters or in injuring any oyster 
bed in violation of the provisions of this act, and 
shall make complaint when called upon to do 
so for all such violations, and in any such com- 
plaint he shall not be required at the time of 
complaint or thereafter to enter into recog- 
nizance or in any way to become liable for the 
costs that may accrue thereon; and the attor- 
ney-general shall, when notified to do so by the 
complainant, prosecute all such complaints 
in the court where the same shall be made or be 
pending; and all cases of appeal thereof from 
the sentence of a district court, and all questions 
arising under the same, or under any complaint 
and warrant made under the provisions of this 
act, in either division of the supreme court, 
shall be conducted by said attorney-general. 



26 LAWS RELATING TO SHELL FISHERIES. 

Sec. 34. A surveyor may be employed to 
fix the place or otherwise to designate the 
locality of any violation of the provisions of 
this act, and reasonable charges of such sur- 
veyor for such service shall be allowed by the 
court, if said employment shall be by said court 
deemed to have been necessary; and such 
charges when allowed as aforesaid shall be 
taxed in the bill of costs. 

Sec. 35. All leases of oyster grounds here- 
tofore granted by the commissioners of shell 
fisheries to any party or parties residents of 
this state are hereby validated and confirmed. 



CHAPTER 205. 

OF THE PROTECTION OF QUAHAUGS. 

Section 1. Every person who takes or has 
in his or her possession any quahaugs less 
than one and one-half inches in diameter, tak- 
ing the largest diameter, taken from any 
waters of this state, shall be fined five dollars 
for each and every quart; but any person 
taking any quahaugs less than one and one- 
half inches in diameter, taking the largest di- 



LAWS RELATING TO SHELL FISHERIES. 27 

ameter, from any of the waters of this state, 
and immediately returning the same, unmuti- 
lated, to the water from which they were 
taken, shall not be subject to such fine. 

Sec. 2. Every person who shall take any 
quahaugs from the waters of this state by 
dredges or rakes operated or hauled by power- 
boats shall be fined twenty dollars for each 
bushel so taken. 

Sec. 3. Fines incurred by violation of any 
of the foregoing provisions shall enure one- 
half thereof to the use of the state and one- 
half thereof to the use of the complainant. 



CHAPTER 209. 
OF THE SCOLLOP FISHERIES. 

Section 1. Every person who shall take 
any scollops from any of the waters of this state 
between the hours of sunset and sunrise shall 
be fined twenty dollars and be imprisoned not 
more than thirty days for each such offence. 

Sec. 2. Every person who shall take, in any 
one day, from any of the waters of this state, 
more than twenty-five bushels of scollops, 
including the shells, for each boat actually 



28 LAWS KELATING TO SHELL FISHERIES. 

employed by him in taking the same, shall be 
fined twenty dollars and be imprisoned not 
more than thirty days for each such offence. 

Sec. 3. Every person who shall take any 
scollops from any of the waters of this state, by 
dredging or by any other means, at any time 
between the first day of January and the first 
day of September, shall be fined twenty dollars 
and be imprisoned not more than thirty days 
for each such offence; but nothing- in this section 
shall be so construed as to prevent any person 
from taking scollops, lawfully caught and bed- 
ded by him, from the grounds in which he has 
planted them, at any time between the first 
day of January and the fifteenth day of April; 
but it shall be lawfully for any person, at any 
time, to take sclolops from the shores of this 
state by hand, for food for his own personal or 
family use and not for sale, said scollops not 
being covered by water at the time of the 
taking. 

Sec. 4. Every person who shall take any 
seed scollops from any of the waters of this 
state, by dredging or by any other means, or 
shall have in his possession any seed scollops 
and shall fail immediately to restore them to 
their natural beds, shall be fined twenty dollars 



LAWS RELATING TO SHELL FISHERIES. 29 

and be imprisoned not more than thirty days 
for each such offence. For the purpose of this 
act a seed scollop shall be a scollop with a bright 
thin, slightly curved shell, with no foreign 
adherent, the shell having no sharply defined 
growth line, and the scollop being less than one 
year old. 

Sec. 5. Every person, before engaging in 
the taking of scollops, shall obtain from the 
commissioners of shell fisheries a license for 
his boat or boats, the fee for which shall be five 
dollars for every boat thus engaged. And 
every person who shall take any scollops from 
any of the waters of this state without first 
obtaining such license from said commissioners 
shall be fined twenty dollars and be imprisoned 
not more than thirty days for each such offence : 
Provided, however, that nothing in this section 
contained shall be so construed as to prevent 
any person from taking one bushel of scollops 
per day for his own use; and provided, further, 
that no boat shall be allowed to have more than 
two men, each of whom shall be allowed one 
bushel for his own use. 

Sec. 6. All licenses shall expire on the 
thirty -first day of December of each year; and 
for every license issued by said commissioners 



30 LAWS RELATING TO SHELL FISHERIES. 

there shall be paid to the clerk thereof a fee of 
twenty-five cents for his own use: Provided, 
that every person to whom a license is granted 
under the provisions of this act shall have had 
his home and residence in this state for the 
period of one year next preceding the granting 
of such license or the renewal thereof. 

Sec. 7. The commissioners of shell fisheries 
shall provide a number for every boat licensed 
by them; said number shall be black, eight 
inches in length, and shall be exposed in a con- 
spicuous place upon each boat upon a white 
surface, and the deputies shall keep a record 
of all such licensed boats in a book kept for 
that purpose. 

Sec. 8. Every person who shall open any 
scollops while catching them or throw the shells 
onto the scollop beds, and every person who 
shall throw back into the water any starfish, 
shall be fined twenty dollars and be imprisoned 
not more than thirty days for each such offence. 

Sec. 9. Any person who shall offer for 
sale any scollops between the 15th day of 
April and the 1st day of September shall be 
fined twenty dollars and be imprisoned not 
more than thirty days for each such offence. 



LAWS RELATING TO SHELL FISHERIES. 31 

Sec. 10. The commissioners of shell fisher- 
ies shall appoint at least four deputies, whose 
duties shall be the enforcing of the provisions 
of this chapter; they shall be selected one from 
Bristol county, one from Kent county, one 
from Newport county, and one from Washing- 
ton county. Each of said deputies appointed 
as aforesaid shall be by virtue of his office a 
special constable, and as such deputy may, 
without warrant, arrest any person found 
violating any of the provisions of this chapter 
and detain him for prosecution not exceeding 
twenty-four hours. The commissioners and 
their duly appointed deputies may search in 
suspected places, or go upon any boat or vessel 
that they may believe is used in the illegal tak- 
ing or transportation of scollops, and may seize 
and remove scollops taken, held, or offered for 
sale in violation of the provisions of this 
chapter. 

Said deputies shall not be required to enter 
into recognizance or become liable for costs. 

Sec. 11. Fines incurred under any of the 
provisions of this act shall inure one-half thereof 
to the use of the complainant and one-half 
thereof to the use of the state. 



32 LAWS RELATING TO SHELL FISHERIES. 

Sec. 12. The several district courts shall 
have concurrent jurisdiction with the common 
pleas division of the supreme court over all 
offences under this chapter and to the full ex- 
tent of the penalties therein specified; parties 
defendant, however, having the same right to 
appeal from the sentences of said district courts 
as is now provided by law in other criminal 
cases. 



CHAPTER 577. 

AN ACT IN AMENDMENT OF CHAPTER 206 
OF THE GENERAL LAWS, ENTITLED " OF 
THE PROTECTION OF THE SHELL FISHER- 
IES IN THE PUBLIC WATERS OF THIS 
STATE." 

Section 1. Chapter 206 of the General 
Laws, entitled "Of the protection of the shell 
fisheries in the public waters of this state/' 
is hereby amended to read as follows : 

"Section 1. No person shall deposit in, or 
allow to escape into, or shall cause or permit 
to be deposited in, or allowed to escape into, 
any of the public waters of this state, any sub- 
stance which shall in any manner injuriously 
affect the growth or sale of the shell-fish in or 



LAWS RELATING TO SHELL FISHERIES. 33 

under said waters, or which shall in any manner 
affect the flavor or odor, of such shell-fish so as 
to injuriously affect the sale thereof, or which 
shall cause any injury to the public and private 
fisheries of this state. 

"Sec. 2. Any person violating any of the 
provisions of this chapter shall, upon conviction 
thereof, be fined not less than five hundred 
dollars or more than two thousand dollars, 
one-half thereof to the use of the complainant 
and one-half thereof to the use of the state: 
Provided, that in case of conviction upon pro- 
secution by the commissioners of shell fisheries, 
the whole of any fine imposed shall go to the 
use of the state. 

"Sec. 3. Every person violating any of the 
provisions of this chapter shall be liable to pay, 
to the party injured by such violation, double 
the amount of damages caused thereby, to be 
recovered in an action of the case in any court 
of competent jurisdiction. It shall not be 
necessary, before bringing suit for the recovery 
of such damages, for a criminal prosecution to 
have been first instituted for the violation of 
the provisions of this chapter, nor shall the 
recovery of damages under this section be a bar 
to such criminal prosecution. 



34 LAWS RELATING TO SHELL FISHERIES. 

"Sec. 4. It shall be the duty of the com- 
missioners of shell fisheries to investigate all 
complaints made to them of the violation of any 
of the provisions of this chapter. For the 
purpose of such investigation said commis- 
sioners may make examination of the premises, 
hold public hearings, summon witnesses, and 
take testimony under oath, and they shall have 
power to punish, by fine or imprisonment or 
both, all contempt of their authority in any 
hearing before them. They may employ pro- 
fessional or expert services, as they may deem 
desirable. 

"Sec. 5. It shall be the duty of the shell- 
fish commissioners to prosecute any person in 
their opinion guilty of the violation of any of the 
provisions of this chapter, and in all such prose- 
cutions said commissioners shall not be re- 
quired to enter into any recognizance or to give 
surety for costs. It shall be the duty of the 
attorney-general to conduct the prosecution 
of all cases brought by said commissioners 
under the provisions of this chapter. Com- 
plaints may also be brought and prosecuted by 
any citizen for any violation of its provisions. 

"Sec. 6. The expenses incurred by the 
commissioners of shell fisheries in the perform- 



LAWS RELATING TO SHELL FISHERIES. 35 

ance of the duties imposed upon them by this 
chapter shall be paid by the general treasurer, 
out of any funds in the treasury not otherwise 
appropriated, upon the presentation of vouch- 
ers therefor duly certified by their chairman. 

"Sec. 7. The commissioners of shell fish- 
eries shall inspect the premises designated in 
Section 8 of this chapter, at such times as they 
may deem advisable, for the purpose of de- 
termining whether said premises are kept in a 
proper sanitary condition for opening, hand- 
ling, or packing shell-fish for the trade. Also 
said commissioners shall inspect the methods 
followed on the premises in opening, packing, 
or preparing shell-fish for the trade, to deter- 
mine whether such methods are proper from 
a sanitary standpoint. 

"Sec. 8. The premises which come within 
the scope of this act are all establishments 
where oysters or other shell-fish are opened, 
packed, or prepared for the trade. Retail or 
wholesale markets where shell-fish are sold 
which purchased from the original opening or 
packing houses designated in this section shall 
not come within the scope of this chapter. 

"Sec. 9. Said commissioners shall inspect 
any or all the leased oyster grounds and other 



36 LAWS RELATING TO SHELL FISHERIES. 

shell-fish grounds within the state, at such 
times as they may deem advisable, to determine 
whether said grounds are in a proper sanitary 
condition for the production of shell-fish for 
consumption as food. 

"Sec. 10. Said commissioners may make 
such regualtions in regard to sanitation as they 
may deem advisable, from time to time, with 
reference to the sanitary handling of shell-fish 
and with reference to maintaining opening or 
packing houses in a proper sanitary condition. 

"Sec. 11. Said commissioners may issue 
certificates from time to time to any person 
whose premises or grounds are found by them 
to be in a sanitary condition, setting forth that 
they have examined such opening or packing 
house or such shell-fish ground and that the 
methods followed in the preparation of oyster 
or other shell-fish in such opening or packing 
house are sanitary and that the grounds in- 
spected are in proper sanitary condition for 
the production of shell-fish for consumption 
as food. 

"Sec. 12. No person shall take shell-fish 
from any grounds which are not certified by 
said commissioners as being in a sanitary con- 
dition, except for the purpose of transplanta- 



LAWS RELATING TO SHELL FISHERIES. 37 

tion. No person shall prepare shell-fish for the 
trade except on premises and by methods 
certified by said commissioners as being sani- 
tary. 

"Sec. 13. Any person who shall violate any 
sanitary regulation made by said commis- 
sioners, as provided for in Section 10, shall be 
fined $20 for the first offence, and for each 
subsequent offence $100 and be imprisoned 
not more than ninety days in jail. Any person 
violating the provisions of Section 12 of this 
chapter shall be fined $20 for the first offence, 
and for each subsequent offence $100 and be 
imprisoned not more than ninety days in jail. 

"Sec. 14. It shall be the duty of the com- 
missioners of shell fisheries to prosecute any 
person in their opinion guilty of the violation 
of any of the provisions of this chapter, and in 
all such prosecutions said commissioners shall 
not be required to enter into any recognizance 
or to give surety for costs. It shall be the duty 
of the attorney-general to conduct the prose- 
cution of all cases brought by said commis- 
sioners under the provisions of this act." 

Sec. 2. This act shall take effect upon its 
passage, excepting the above Sections numbered 
12, 13, 14, which sections shall take effect 



38 LAWS RELATING TO SHELL FISHERIES. 

July I, 1910, and the act numbered " Senate 
136, Substitute A," passed at the January 
session, A. D. 1910, and approved April 26, 
A. D. 1910, and all other acts and parts of acts 
inconsistent herewith, are hereby repealed. 



CHAPTER 852. 

AN ACT REGULATING FISHING FOR SHELL 
FISH UPON THE FREE AND COMMON FISH- 
ERIES. 

Section 1. No person shall take any 
oysters from the free and common oyster 
fisheries northerly of Field's Point and Kettle 
Point, in this state, between the first day of 
June in any year and the first day of April in 
the following year, or from the free and common 
oyster fisheries in any of the other waters of this 
state between the fifteenth day of May and the 
fifteenth day of September of any year. Any 
person who. shall take any oysters or expose any 
oysters for sale taken from the free and common 
fisheries aforesaid in violation of the foregoing 
provisions shall be fined twenty dollars and 
costs for each offence. 

Sec. 2. The commissioners of shell fisheries 
may, from time to time, issue a license to any 



LAWS RELATING TO SHELL FISHERIES. 39 

person, an inhabitant of this state, permitting 
him to take oysters, clams or quahaugs from 
the free and common fisheries, subject to the 
provisions of this chapter, and may also issue 
a license to the owners of any boat used in 
taking oysters, clams or quahaugs from the 
free and common fisheries, and may, for cause 
which appears sufficient to a majority of said 
commissioners, revoke and terminate any 
license issued as aforesaid. Said commis- 
sioners may make such rules and regulations, 
from time to time, as they may deem expedient 
for the issuing of said licenses, but no license 
issued under this chapter shall be valid, how- 
ever, before the licensee shall endorse his name 
in his own hand-writing thereon, and no license 
shall be transferrable. 

Sec. 3. No person shall take any oysters, 
clams or quahaugs from the free and common 
fisheries of this state, unless he shall, at the 
time, have a license from the commissioners. of 
shell fisheries permitting him so to do: Pro- 
vided, however, that nothing in this act shall be 
construed so as to prevent any person from 
taking, in any one day, without a license, not 
more than one bushel of oysters, clams or 
quahaugs for his own use. 



40 LAWS RELATING TO SHELL FISHERIES. 

No person shall use a boat in fishing for 
oysters, clams or quahaugs from the free and 
common fisheries of this state unless the owner 
of such boat shall, at the time, have a license 
from said commissioners permitting said boat 
to be so used: Provided, however, that a boat 
may be used, without a license, for the purpose 
of taking, in any one day, one bushel of oysters, 
clams or quahaugs for the use of each of the 
occupants thereof. 

Sec. 4. Each person shall pay the said com- 
missioners the sum of one dollar for a license to 
fish from the free and common fisheries; and the 
owner of each boat used in fishing for oysters, 
clams or quahaugs from the free and common 
fisheries shall pay to the said commissioners the 
sum of one dollar for a license to so use said 
boat. 

Sec. 5. Every person holding a license as 
provided by this act shall have the same in his 
possession at all times while fishing from the 
free and common fisheries, and he shall present 
the same for inspection on demand to any police 
or special officer; and any person refusing to so 
present said license for inspection upon demand 
shall be fined not less than five nor more than 
twenty dollars for each offence. 



LAWS RELATING TO SHELL FISHERIES. 41 

Sec. 6. Every person who shall take, at 
any one time, more than one bushel of oysters, 
clams or quahaugs from the free and common 
fisheries of this state without a license as afore- 
said, shall be fined twenty dollars and costs, 
or be imprisoned not more than thirty days or 
both. 

Sec. 7. The commissioners of shell fisheries 
shall provide a number for each boat licensed by 
them and the same shall be displayed upon all 
boats licensed, in such manner as the commis- 
sioners may direct. 

Sec. 8. No licensed person shall cast, haul 
or have overboard any dredge, while fishing 
for oysters, clams or quahaugs from the free 
and common fisheries, nor shall any licensed 
boat be used # for fishing for oysters, clams or 
quahaugs with dredges, except as hereinafter 
provided. 

Any person having a license for the taking of 
scollops, as provided by Chapter 209, may use a 
dredge for such purpose, provided said person 
shall immediately return all oysters or quahaugs 
caught by him, to the waters from whence taken 
while so fishing. Any licensed boat may be 
used in dredging for muscles by the licensee of 
said boat, the said licensee first obtaining a 



42 LAWS RELATING TO SHELL FISHERIES. 

permit from the commissioners of shell fisheries 
allowing him so to do. The said licensee, while 
dredging for muscles under the permit granted 
him by the said commissioners of shell fisheries, 
shall immediately return all oysters or quahaugs 
caught by him to the waters from whence taken: 
The fact of any licensed person being found with 
oysters or quahaugs in his possession while 
dredging for muscles or scollops, shall be prima 
facie evidence that such person is fishing in 
violation of the provisions of this chapter and 
shall be subject to the penalties and fines there- 
of. 

Sec. 9. No person shall use any boat for 
the purpose of taking or catching any oysters, 
quahaugs or scollops from any of the free and 
common fisheries of this state except between 
sunrise and sunset on each day. 

Sec. 10. No licensed person shall' take 
more than twenty bushels of oysters, clams or 
quahaugs, including shells in either case, 
during any one day from the free and common 
fisheries, and any licensed person taking more 
than twenty bushels of oysters, clams or 
quahaugs, during any one day from the free 
and common fisheries, shall be fined twenty 
dollars for every bushel so taken over and 



LAWS RELATING TO SHELL FISHERIES. 43 

above said twenty bushels, or be imprisoned 
not more than thirty days, or both. 

Sec. 11. Any person whose license has 
been revoked or cancelled, shall not receive 
another license to fish for oysters, clams or 
quahaugs upon the public fisheries of the state, 
or to use a boat therefor, for the period of one 
year from the date of such revocation or can- 
cellation. 

Sec. 12. All moneys received by said com- 
missioners under this act and all fines incurred 
under any of the provisions of this act, shall be 
paid over to the general treasurer and held by 
him during the current year for use as herein 
provided, any balance remaining at the end of 
the year to be paid into the general fund. 

The said commissioners are hereby author- 
ized to expend so much of the money received, 
as herein provided, as may appear to be re- 
quired for carrying out the provisions of this 
chapter. 

Sec. 13. The deputies appointed under 
Section 7 of Chapter 203 of the General Laws 
are hereby required to enforce the provisions 
of this chapter. Each of said deputies ap- 
pointed as aforesaid shall be by virtue of his 
office a special constable and as such deputy 



44 LAWS RELATING TO SHELL FISHERIES. 

may, without warrant, arrest any person found 
violating any of the provisions of this act and 
detain him for prosecution not exceeding forty- 
eight hours. The commissioners of shell 
fisheries and their duly appointed deputies 
may without warrant go upon any boat or 
vessel that they believe is used in the illegal 
taking or transporting of oysters, clams or 
quahaugs and may seize and remove such oys- 
ters, clams or quahaugs held or offered for sale 
in violation of the provisions of this act. 

Sec. 14. No person shall be licensed to 
take any shell-fish from within the public 
fisheries of this state unless he and his employers 
are at the time, and have been for one year 
next preceding, inhabitants of this state. 

Sec. 15. Any person violating any of the 
provisions of this act shall be fined twenty 
dollars and costs for each offence unless a 
specific penalty is provided herein for such 
violation. 

Sec. 16. Any person convicted a second 
time of a violation of any of the provisions of 
this act shall, in addition to the penalties 
before mentioned, be deprived of the privilege 
of fishing, for shell-fish, within the state, for 
three years thereafter under a penalty of 



LAWS RELATING TO SHELL FISHERIES. 45 

thirty days imprisonment for each offence. 

Sec. 17. It shall be. the duty of the com- 
missioners of shell fisheries to prosecute any 
person in their opinion guilty of the violation 
of any of the provisions of this act, and said 
commissioners and their deputies shall not be 
required to enter into recognizance or become 
liable for costs. It shall be the duty of the 
attorney-general to conduct the prosecution 
of all cases brought by said commissioners 
under the provisions of this act. 

Sec. 18. Chapter 202 of the General Laws 
is hereby repealed. 

Sec. 19. This act shall take effect Septem- 
ber 1st, A. D. 1912. 



